Pro brewers' take on hazies

[day_trippr]

Singular Haze: Brewing IPA with Its Own Kind of Juice​

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[hotbeer]

Oh, a new article about it. I was hoping that the hazy fad was dying out!

There are a few I enjoy though.

 

[day_trippr]

With the hazy share of the article's studied market increasing by 17% year-over-year, I think your vigil will be unrequited for some time to come

Cheers!

 

[Zippy123]

Not a fan of hazies but when I'm out for drinks or dinner I'll have what is available. Unfortunately a few of my favorite dinner spots have replaced all IPA's with one hazy or another. So I've taken to drinking other styles as necessary. Also not a fan of the "fruit" beers that I am seeing on so many beer lists now.

I also acknowledge this is a first-world problem.

 

[Agent]

American craft beer consumers apparently like hops - with the top 4 packaged beer categories being IPA, Seasonals, DIPA, and Hazy IPA.

I think hazies also have the pros walking a fine line since they can seldom serve the exact same beer for long because of the nature of hop crops. And as such, they can't have a singular beer last long enough to gain notoriety - they can only crank out rotations of quality beer hoping their brewery can gain recognition as a whole.

 

[Miraculix]

I was always pretty happy when I could have a Sierra Nevada pale ale. No haze needed. Unfortunately, not do be found in Germany.

 

[TheCache]

I notice a few breweries around me pointedly using West Coast in the naming or description of their IPAs and of course these are the more traditional IPA style beers. A year ago, it seemed every thing on the menu was a hazy IPA. They still have a many Hazy IPAs but they also seem to be making the point that not everything IPA is a Hazy.

The Hazy fad may not be dying out, but maybe becoming less the young upstart and more just another selection in the entire range of hoppy beers.

Hope so

 

[Bobby_M]

I like some of the hazy IPAs out there (huge fan of Kane Head High, Focalbanger and Fiddlehead) but my biggest gripe is just how much the classic style names are getting infected with the same character. You can't order an:
American IPA
West Coast IPA
Session IPA
American Pale Ale
off any menu without LIKELY taking a sip of a very hazy, heavy mouthfeel, and slight hop burn beer. They should be required to put the word "HAZY" in there. I grabbed a few cases of mixed beers from Treehouse last month. I know what I'm getting with Julius and Green but there were a bunch of beers labeled American IPA that were very slight variations of Julius.

 

[Nagorg]

I continue to be annoyed by the haze craze. Every once in a while one comes along that's "okay" IMO. But the bulk of them are just not good. And none of them are visually appealing.

I truly do not understand the affinity folks have for these things other than being able to say "I like IPA". (Even though these Mimosa like concoctions aren't IPA at all in my book... Almost all beer has hops in varying degrees but that makes not an IPA...)

 

[Bobby_M]

I truly do not understand the affinity folks have for these things other than being able to say "I like IPA".

I say the same thing about goat cheese.

 

[Nagorg]

I say the same thing about goat cheese.

I like just about all cheese... Except for Brie! Kinda makes me think of toe-jam...

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Pro Brewer? Or "Kate Bernot is a reporter and editor with a decade of experience in magazine, newspaper, and online publishing." Her about page does say "I’m a BJCP-certified beer judge." (https://www.katebernot.com/)

I think I might disagree with the article's idea that you have to brew unique version of the style. There are lots of consumers that just want a decent beer and they don't care if it is just a Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe blend. Sierra Nevada's Hazies are well made, but not unique in any real way. They sell very well. As a homebrewer, I often like to play with new hop blends or look for Hazies made with hops I have never heard of. My best brewed examples mostly just relied on "cheater hops" and a recipe that looks a lot like other recipes.

 

[Nagorg]

Finally read that article.

This ==> "They know what 90 percent of one of our hazy IPAs is going to taste like.”

Orange Juice!

 

[day_trippr]

Pro Brewer? Or "Kate Bernot is a reporter and editor with a decade of experience in magazine, newspaper, and online publishing."

Ah, missed the apostrophe placement then?

She wrote the article - relating the thoughts of some pro brewers...

Cheers!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I enjoy the style and like that there are so many different approaches on it from different brewers. This article really shows the various ways to achieve what each brewers considers to be their ideal version. Good read!

 

[Bobby_M]

I think it's easy for a bunch of beer snobs to get frustrated about the domination of hazy beers but harder to see the position the brewery owners are in. If you get 100 patrons a day coming in and ordering hazy beers and trying every one of them on the menu, but you get one or two a day complaining that they don't have enough Munich Dunkel, you'll look at the latter like "noise" in the grand scheme. If you find a place that brews the beers you want to drink, and you want them to keep brewing them, you have to drop the dollars on the bar and often.

 

[Nagorg]

I defiantly get the position for the breweries. You have to brew what sells and not necessarily what you like to drink.

I just wish the demand for these abominations wasn't so high. I still wonder if these things didn't have "IPA" in the name if they'd be in such demand.

Too many times I've heard folks say they don't like bitter IPA but they LOVE the hazies... I'm defiantly in the opposite camp and don't consider the hazies to be IPA!

Of course that's old news to some on this forum.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Too many times I've heard folks say they don't like bitter IPA but they LOVE the hazies... I'm defiantly in the opposite camp and don't consider the hazies to be IPA!

I don't know how many times we have had this conversation:

Her: I didn't think I liked Double IPAs!
Me: You don't; you like Hazy IPAs
Her: But this one is not listed as a Hazy IPA
Me: That is because 90% of the beers on the menu listed as Pale Ale or IPA are Hazies!!

 

[InspectorJon]

I just wish the demand for these abominations wasn't so high. I still wonder if these things didn't have "IPA" in the name if they'd be in such demand.

Maybe we should start a rant about how much low malt flavored, low IBU pale yellow lager dominates the beer market in America.

I know that’s a different discussion, but the style doesn’t seem to be going away in spite of this crowd’s disdain. This discussion just made me think of that.

 

[Snuffy]

Too many times I've heard folks say they don't like bitter IPA but they LOVE the hazies... I'm defiantly in the opposite camp and don't consider the hazies to be IPA!
Of course that's old news to some on this forum.

To be honest, the beers that we Americans classify as "IPA" are just a ridiculously hop overloaded pale ale and the Brits should kick us in the yarbles every time we make that claim. They have little to nothing to do with the origin of the term.

I don't drink fruity beers. I understand why they are on the list. Same with hazies. A manna gotta do what a man agotta do.

 

[kevin58]

To be honest, the beers that we Americans classify as "IPA" are just a ridiculously hop overloaded pale ale and the Brits should kick us in the yarbles every time we make that claim. They have little to nothing to do with the origin of the term.

I don't drink fruity beers. I understand why they are on the list. Same with hazies. A manna gotta do what a man agotta do.

Once upon a time not too long ago IPA was nearly a forgotten style. It was early American craft brewers in the late 1970's to early 1980's looking for something "new" to make who revived the style. Two emerging brewers made pilgrimages to England to research IPA...Fritz Maytag (Anchor Brewing) and Burt Grant (Yakima Brewing Co.). Maytag was surprised at how little consistency there was in IPA brewing practices at the time. It was as if the English themselves were ready to abandon IPA and were just going through the motions. He noted that at none of the breweries he visited were they dry hopping and that overall, "There was very little hopping going on". The point being; if it weren't for American craft breweries 50 years ago bringing back English recipes and hopping them up a bit we may not be as familiar with IPA at all.

 

[Nagorg]

Whatever the case, I'd venture to bet that turbidity was not a goal of English IPA. This acceptance, and desire, of poor clarity just doesn't make sense (to me). Its not appealing visually and typically meant something that should be avoided for health reasons "back in the day"...

Its gotten so bad that you can literally be poured a glass of yeast and are expected to drink it without complaint! Trust me, its happened to me on several occasions!

 

[Snuffy]

Whatever the case, I'd venture to bet that turbidity was not a goal of English IPA. This acceptance, and desire, of poor clarity just doesn't make sense (to me). Its not appealing visually and typically meant something that should be avoided for health reasons "back in the day"...

Its gotten so bad that you can literally be poured a glass of yeast and are expected to drink it without complaint! Trust me, its happened to me on several occasions!

You may be well aware of this, but the hazy in a NEIPA is not a function of yeast in suspension. It's actually more of a hop phenomenon paired with certain mostly English yeast. I'm no fan of the style - simply because citrus and tropical flavors are just not what I want in a beer. And for that matter, neither is pine or weed dank - but I can enjoy one occasionally. If I had to choose, I'd go with the balanced style of an English IPA. You're at least aware that malt is involved there. American - I gotta go West Coast.

Check this out for some good hazy info... https://topcrop.co/

I may brew one eventually. Just cause it's there.

 

[Nagorg]

but the hazy in a NEIPA is not a function of yeast in suspension.

I understand that, in theory at least.. But the general acceptance of turbidity because of these styles has lowered the importance of clarity across the board. And increased your chances of getting poured a glass of yeast!

 

[day_trippr]

 

[mac_1103]

Its gotten so bad that you can literally be poured a glass of yeast and are expected to drink it without complaint!

You do realize that for certain bottle-conditioned European styles it is common to stir up the yeast and pour it into the glass, right?

 

[Kickass]

And increased your chances of getting poured a glass of yeast!

I agree. The acceptance of disgusting turbid pours could very well be a function of the Hazy phenomenon. I’ve seen an increase in these hazy pours with styles that should be crystal clear.

 

[mac_1103]

Its gotten so bad that you can literally be poured a glass of yeast and are expected to drink it without complaint! Trust me, its happened to me on several occasions!

I’ve seen an increase in these hazy pours with styles that should be crystal clear.

Maybe y'all should find some higher quality drinking establishments.

 

[day_trippr]

What - and potentially lose the endless entertainment of "Waaaah! There are beer drinkers that enjoy Hazies! Waaaaah! Me no likey!"

 

[Kickass]

Maybe y'all should find some higher quality drinking establishments.

I don’t disagree. It’s getting more difficult.